NTL2, SBWR 26Oct11

From KH

Con, Danny and I spent Deepavali birding at NTL2 and SBWR. Here are the hightlights:

1) 2.5-m-long King Cobra at SBWR
2) Whiskered Terns at Kranji Reservoir
3) Black-tailed Godwit and GSP at SBWR

NTL2:
1) Black-winged Kite 1
2) CHE 1 heard
3) Osprey 1
4) Accipiter spp. 2
5) WBSE 2
6) Brahminy Kite 1
7) Whiskered Tern >6
8) White-winged Tern >3
9) Yellow Bittern 3
10) Lesser Coucal 3 including 1 hopping on ground
11) Common KF 3
12) Blue-throated BE >2 still around
13) Blue-tailed BE >2 have arrived
14) Brown Shrike >1
15) Yellow Wagtail 1
and the usual White-throated & Collared Kingfishers, Dollarbirds, Red-breasted Parakeets, crows, bulbuls, swallows, ioras, mynas, sunbirds, swiftlets.

NSRCC:
1) Yellow Wagtail 1

SBWR:
1) Black-tailed Godwit 1
2) Greater Sand-plover 1
3) Broad-billed Sandpiper >2
4) Red-necked Stint >16
5) Great Egret 2
6) Intermediate Egret 1
7) Cattle Egret 1
and the usual LSP, PGP, sandpipers (Marsh, Curlew, Common), whimbrels, redshanks, greenshanks, Little Egrets.

KNT:
1) Copper-throated Sunbird 1 pair

From Danny

Refer 1st pic - single Whiskered with two White-winged Terns. Thicker bill and larger gist for the Whiskered with eye-stripe extended to nape. Looking towards higher quality pic from Con.

Thx to Kok Hui's patience for spotting the only GSP among the hundreds of LSP, not once but twice. Attached pic showing the classic differences between the two species, namely head shapes, size/shape of eyes, yellow legs (snuggled below body of GSP) & most critical the size/thickness/shape of bill.

From Con

Thanks for spending the time to dig this Greater Sand-plover out of the sea of Lesser Sand-plovers and keeping it there while I went back to the car to get my camera.

Not the best of images, but at least something with a largish bill and yellowish legs .... although David Bakewell did say in his course that some Lesser Sand-plovers also have yellowish legs, but I forget if this was adult, juvenile or only on Halloween.

2.5-m-long King Cobra sighted at SBWR today at the Main Hide end of main bridge.

http://npss.org.sg/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=9006&p=80958#p80953